As understood by those skilled in these techniques, good seed distribution in planting grooves is quite beneficial, since there is a direct correlation between seed distribution and the productivity of normally planted crops.
One of the factors that directly influences the distribution of seeds in the planting grooves are the oscillations and shaking that the agricultural sowing implements, known as planters, go through when moving through irregular plantation lands, since shaking of the planters affects the seed meter, which, in turn, affects the seeds, negatively influencing their distribution in the planting grooves formed by the depth-limiting wheel.
These plantation land irregularities were especially observed in planting systems denominated “direct planting” or “direct planting in straw,” in which the soil is not plowed or tilled, and seeds are simply planted on the remains of the previous crop. Therefore, soil surface irregularities, or micro relief irregularities, are especially high in relation to the traditional cultivation system, in which plows are used to make the soil precisely uniform. In direct planting, there are many traces left by various machines: tractors, planters, harvesters, sprayers among others, which end up provoking and accentuating these ground irregularities.
Soil micro-relief irregularities, especially those that cause vertical shaking of the depth-limiting wheels, significantly affect the frequency and quality of seed deposits in the soil. Shaking, or vertical acceleration occurring in a short period of time of the depth-limiting wheel, also cause the same effect in the meter and the seed conductor, since the connection between these planter items is direct; implements equipped with a component to cushion these impacts do not exist in the prior art inventions.
With regard to seed meters, the various known prior art types, including horizontal disks, pneumatic meters and digital meters, among others, which have the function of releasing the seeds in the seed conductor, are positioned so that the meter center coincides with the longitudinal axis of the seed line, as shown in FIG. 4. This meter positioning causes seeds to be dropped at a right angle from the movement direction of the agricultural implement, as shown in FIG. 5, generating a mismatch between the seed drop curve and the seed conductor curve, which leads to the ground. As the seed conductor is slightly bent backward, in order to send seeds backward in the conductor, seeds also drop at right angles from the conductor curve, which causes them to fall into the conductor with a left-leaning curve, generating a shock of the seeds against the conductor walls, as shown in FIG. 6. This mismatch of curves causes seeds to ricochet with conductor walls, which causes the seeds to reach the ground at irregular intervals, damaging uniform distribution thereof in the planting furrow.
Among the various prior art agricultural seeding equipment models, patent document PI1000054-2 describes a seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from the seed meter, so capturing the seed. The distribution system then sends the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally backward at a velocity approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seed machine, so that the seed, when discharged, has a low or no horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Therefore, the bearing of the seed in the pit is reduced. Furthermore, since seeds only have a short drop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed pit, seeds have little vertical velocity in order to induce ricochet. The distribution system uses a brush strap to capture, move and accelerate seeds. By capturing seeds and moving them from the meter to be discharged, seeds are held in place relative to other seeds and relative to the planter's row unit. As a result, seeds are isolated from the dynamics of the row unit, therefore maintaining seed spacing.
The sowing machine described in the document above, while reducing the variation in seed spacing a little, does not produce an overall satisfactory result, since the intensity of shaking transmitted to the machine due to soil micro relief irregularities is transferred to the meter, and to the seeds as a consequence, impairing the distribution thereof at regular intervals and spacing in the planting grooves.
Another prior art document is BR1020140117946, which describes a precision seed dosing system applied to a planter with a soil-touching element and a chassis that supports a seed meter. According to the patent, the system in question comprises at least one damping system between the machine soil-touching element and the seed meter.
The drawback of the system described in the document above, though it has advantages over the prior art, is the fact that the damper system is not able to absorb and compensate for the shaking originating from the soil micro relief oscillations, which have a negative influence on the seed distribution in the planting grooves.
Another prior art document is BR 1020120028387, which describes a seed selector and conductor system for a seed meter device employed in agricultural seeding equipment, consisting of seed organizers, an anti-hop bulkhead and at least one set of toothed disks, suitably arranged in the seed dosing device, which, in turn, is made up of a base, a counter base, a cradle and a neck.
The disadvantage presented for the technique described in the document cited above is the fact that seeds fall into the seed conductor in a curve tending to the left relative to the seed conductor's vertical axis, causing the seeds to impact the conductor walls and causing the failure of the seeds to reach the ground in the same longitudinal direction in the planting groove. Furthermore, another drawback is the fact that the seeds have little stability when they are moving in the seed meter disk, which also affects their distribution in the soil.
The operation of a seed distribution system as described in BR1020140117946 and BR 1020120028387 has resulted in the development of this patent, which provides an agricultural sowing implement provided with a structural arrangement that equalizes the planter's vertical movement during sowing, reduces its vibrations and oscillations due to soil irregularities, and provides uniform distribution of the seeds in the planting grooves.
Therefore, it is a prior art need to provide an agricultural sowing implement that has a structural arrangement that results in improved product performance, providing uniform seed distribution in the planting grooves at regular intervals and spacing.